Hosea 9

1 “Do not rejoice, O Israel, do not be joyful like the peoples, For you have gone whoring from your God, You have loved a wage near all floors of grain.

Rejoice not, O Israel: rejoice not as the nations do: for thou hast committed fornication against thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.

2 Floor and winepress do not feed them, And new wine fails in her,

The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the wine shall deceive them.

3 They do not abide in the land of YHWH, And Ephraim has turned back [to] Egypt, And they eat an unclean thing in Asshur.

They shall not dwell in the Lord’s land: Ephraim is returned to Egypt, and hath eaten unclean things among the Assyrians.

4 They do not pour out wine to YHWH, Nor are they sweet to Him, Their sacrifices [are] as bread of mourners to them, All eating it are unclean: For their bread [is] for themselves, It does not come into the house of YHWH.

They shall not offer wine to the Lord, neither shall they please him: their sacrifices shall be like the bread of mourners: all that shall eat it shall be defiled: for their bread is life for their soul, it shall not enter into the house of the Lord.

5 What do you do at the day appointed? And at the day of YHWH’s festival?

What will you do in the solemn day, in the day of the feast of the Lord?

6 For behold, they have gone because of destruction, Egypt gathers them, Moph buries them, The desirable things of their silver, Nettles possess them—a thorn [is] in their tents.

For behold they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them together, Memphis shall bury them: nettles shall inherit their beloved silver, the bur shall be in their tabernacles.

7 The days of inspection have come in, The days of repayment have come in, Israel knows! The prophet [is] a fool, Mad [is] the man of the spirit, Because of the abundance of your iniquity, And great [is] the hatred.

The days of visitation are come, the days of repaying are come: know ye, O Israel, that the prophet was foolish, the spiritual man was mad, for the multitude of thy iniquity, and the multitude of thy madness.

8 Ephraim is looking [away] from My God, The prophet! A snare of a fowler [is] over all his ways, Hatred [is] in the house of his God.

The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: the prophet is become a snare of ruin upon all his ways, madness is in the house of his God.

9 They have gone deep—have done corruptly, As [in] the days of Gibeah, He remembers their iniquity, He inspects their sins.

They have sinned deeply, as in the days of Gabaa: he will remember their iniquity, and will visit their sin.

10 As grapes in a wilderness I found Israel, As the first-fruit in a fig tree, at its beginning, I have seen your fathers, They have gone in [to] Ba‘al-Peor, And are separated to a shameful thing, And have become abominable like their love.

I found Israel like grapes in the desert, I saw their fathers like the firstfruits of the fig tree in the top thereof: but they went in to Beelphegor, and alienated themselves to that confusion, and became abominable, as those things were, which they loved.

11 Ephraim [is] as a bird, their glory flies away, without birth, and without womb, and without conception.

As for Ephraim, their glory hath flown away like a bird from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.

12 For though they nourish their sons, I have made them childless—without man, Surely also, woe to them when I turn aside from them.

And though they should bring up their children, I will make them without children among men: yea, and woe to them, when I shall depart from them.

13 Ephraim! When I have looked to the rock, Is planted in comeliness, And Ephraim [is] to bring out his sons to a slayer.

Ephraim, as I saw, was a Tyre founded in beauty: and Ephraim shall bring out his children to the murderer.

14 Give to them, YHWH—what do You give? Give to them miscarrying womb, and dry breasts.

Give them, O Lord. What wilt thou give them? Give them a womb without children, and dry breasts.

15 All their evil [is] in Gilgal, Surely there I have hated them, Because of the evil of their doings, Out of My house I drive them, I no longer love them, All their heads [are] apostates.

All their wickedness is in Galgal, for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their devices I will cast them forth out of my house: I will love them no more, all their princes are revolters.

16 Ephraim has been struck, Their root has dried up, they do not yield fruit, Indeed, though they bring forth, I have put to death the desired of their womb.

Ephraim is struck, their root is dried up, they shall yield no fruit. And if they should have issue, I will slay the best beloved fruit of their womb.

17 My God rejects them, Because they have not listened to Him, And they are wanderers among nations!”

My God will cast them away, because they hearkened not to him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.